I remember one family trip to Paris. Four of us were marching to Bastille, and suddenly the youngest member of the expedition asked for a toilet. We were on a street off the beaten tourist path, and the only way to solvethea problem was to sit for a coffee. Of course, Paris prices made it the most expensive have-to-go of a lifetime.
Where to go in Split when you have to go? First, look for signs WC. This is the usual way to mark toilets, bathroom, mens room, girls room, or whatever you want to call it. In Croatian it’s pronounced vae-tse, but most of people you ask on a street will understand if you ask for the toilet. The Croatian word is “nužnik” (pron. nuzhnyk), or more dialectal “zahod”.
If it’s urgent, you can ask in restaurants and cafes, especially if the one in need is a child. Most people would consider it very rude to forbid kids to use their toilets. Of course, you can always sit for a quick drink or coffee.
The same goes with stores. In the city centre there are no big shopping malls with toilets, but there are stores which have WCs, or you can just ask staff for it.
Still, public toilets are the safest solution, and there are quite enough of them around the main tourist paths in the city centre. Let’s start from the west. On Matejuška you will find a strange looking chrome cabin. Originally, it was supposed to be automatic, meaning the door would open if you insert coins in the slot. It would be to optimistic to expect it still works that way, especially after some car obviously hit the cabin, with very visible damage. Advice: avoid, there are some cafes around where you can ask for a favor. And if it’s dark enough, and you are desperate enough, the sea is close enough.
All the way accross Riva there are no public toilets, until you reach the strange construction everyone knows as Tourist Palace, because of the travel agencies based there. With the exception of the external part with agencies and cafes, entering the structure reveals a pile of rusted iron, not very attractive, especially at night. However, there is a reason one will find important enough to enter, a public WC It’s clean, with a lady taking care of it, and don’t forget to leave a few kunas as a tip. She will provide you with toilet paper and paper towels. Don’t expect a poliglot to be working there, but some mime gestures are universal.
Close to it is Pothodnik, as people in Split call the passage from port to green market, near the monument dedicated to the first Croatian president Franjo Tudjman. At the entrance follow signs WC, there are two of them inside, each one with the same kind of staff as the one in Tourist Palace. The tipping custom is also the same.
If you go to the city centre, there are more options in restaurants and stores, but only two public toilets. One of them is in Nepotova street. That unavoidable lady can be found here, too. There is a sign saying that it’s for free, but a tip is always welcome.
The other one is in Kralja Tomislava street, near the main post office. It’s probably the biggest one, and the cleanest one. Also, the position is very good, especially if you are coming to the city centre by car and park on some of public parking lots north of Diocletian Palace we described in one of our previous blogs.
There are public toilets also on bus terminal. Unlike the one on Matejuška, this one really works with inserted coins, so it can stay open 24/7. Close to this one is a facility at the ferry terminal.
Beaches are a special case, and the sea is obviously big enough for all those who can’t hold it, so if you notice someone swimming with a face approaching nirvana, you can tell what he or she is doing. Of course, there are enough bars around where you can go, and one of them is special in many different ways, Žbirac on Bačvice beach. The history of this popular bar says that this venue previously was a public toilet. After turning into a cafe, they still have to let people use its toilet, even when the bar is closed for holidays.
